Sermon Previews, Newsletter Pieces, Random thoughts about Ministry and Life

Thursday, May 24, 2012

June Newsletter

Seeking the Way

Sometimes it is hard to know which way to go. The maps may be
unclear. Or we may not even have a map. Or we may not really be
sure where we are trying to get to. But we get to the crossroad and
we wonder. How do we get there from here?

This is what it is often like trying to live as the people of God.
Amidst all of the voices pounding in our ears, among all the
“suggestions” of which way to go, it can be painfully difficult
to make out the Word of God. Now sometimes it is easy. Sometimes
the path is clear, the choice is obvious. But most of the time it is
hard.

There are many ways to seek God’s will. Certainly prayer and
silence are important. Trying to discern what is right for the whole
Creation (not just ourselves) is important. But I think that the
most important thing about trying to hear God is being ready to let
go of what we already think.

Have you ever tried to give directions to someone who is sure they
know how to get to their destination? I am convinced that God has
the same problem. Sometimes we are so sure we know what God wants we
ignore all hints to the contrary. This is why we have to look and
listen closely. What I have found is that much of the time the
harder path, the more unknown path, is where God is calling us.

“Take the hard path,” God says. Take that path which makes you
change. Take the path that leads to a world reborn, where all
Creation can flourish. And here is the rub. To take that path means
giving up. It means giving up on our assumption that what benefits
us is always right. It means giving up our comfortable seats.

In many ways the world we live in is broken. The economic system is
broken, the environment is breaking, the connections between
neighbours are being shattered on a regular basis. What path does
God offer out of the chaos?

The irony is that the hard path leads further in. The hard path
means rethinking how our economy works (or doesn’t work). The hard
path means that we will do less with less. The hard path means that
in the short term people will get hurt. But the long-term promise is
that a new economy will be born, a new sense of living with (as
opposed to on) the Earth will be born, and people will move past
individualism and nationalism into a newfound sense of community.

The world is at a crossroad. The world needs to change direction.
There is a lot of noise trying to drown out God. There is a lot of
noise insisting that variations on the old path will make it work.
But cutting through the noise, if we choose to listen, is God calling
us on a new path. Which way will we go?